Because Woelk actually works for CU and this article was on cubuffs.com, he can't talk about specific recruits, but a good read below.
http://cubuffs.com/news/2018/5/2/fo...p-to-early-official-visits.aspx?path=football
BOULDER — Colorado football coaches are delivering a strong thumbs-up on the early official visit period for high school recruits.
It didn't take long. With the first official weekend just completed, CU's coaches are enthusiastically offering their endorsement of the addition to the recruiting calendar, which for the first time offers the chance for high school juniors to make an official visit to a school.
"It was big for us," said Darrin Chiaverini, CU's co-offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. "You have to make sure you are getting these players on campus officially. The fact that we are able to have some of the best players in the country come and see Boulder when the weather is really nice, the sun's shining, they can see the campus, the rec center, the pool, the mountains — that's incredibly valuable."
Buffs head coach Mike MacIntyre, long a proponent of earlier visits (and an even earlier signing date than the current early December period), said the spring official visits give coaches more time to spend with recruits — and recruits more time to get to know the coaches, campus and the program.
"Official visit weekends during the season are hard," MacIntyre said. "They're not as good a visit. You don't have as much time. They fly in on Saturday mornings or get in late on Friday nights. You miss all the day Friday that you usually have. Saturdays you are preparing for a game and Sunday they're there and they have to fly back home."
Now, Chiaverini said, recruits and their families have a much better opportunity to become familiar with coaches and the campus because the atmosphere is much more relaxed.
"There's not the pressure of us playing a game, so we can spend more time with them," Chiaverini said. "For coaches, when it's an official weekend but you have a game to play, you are so consumed with the game that sometimes you are a little distracted. When you can do official visits in the springtime and dedicate all your time and energy to those kids, it's big for coaches and big for the players. They get to see what you and the program are really all about."
The first spring weekend was by all accounts a successful one for the Buffs, as they received some strong reviews from weekend visitors via today's preferred communication platform: social media.
It is, Chiaverini admitted, a far different world than the one he encountered as a college recruit more than two decade ago.
"When I was being recruited, there weren't cell phones, there wasn't a way to get the word out almost instantaneously," Chiaverini said. "Now when you have top prospects on campus and they're Tweeting about how great this place is, how great the facilities are, how great the mountains and Folsom are — those guys are being followed by a lot of other great players. They're saying, 'Wow, I want to go see that.'"
The result, Chiaverini said, is immediate and far-reaching exposure.
"I had players yesterday who are top high school prospects who are hitting me up saying, 'Coach, I want to come see Boulder now,'" he said. "So we know it's having a positive effect."
There are other benefits to the spring official visit period as well. It allows CU to bring in players from large population area out of state that otherwise might have found it difficult — or impossible — to squeeze in visits during their senior football seasons next fall.
"We've done a really good job recruiting in-state the last couple of years," Chiaverini said. "That's obviously always going to be a priority for us, and if you look at our list, we've signed the top kids in the state consistently. But it's also important to get those kids form California, those kids from Texas and other areas to come see us when they can spend some time here and see what they haven't seen before."
That, Chiaverini said, helps get the word out earlier.
"Where we are located, for us to get those players on campus early is a benefit for us, especially when you get a big-time kid that commits," Chiaverini said. "When he tells his teammates and friends that he had a great trip to Boulder, that it's an unbelievable place, you have to go see it — once that gets out there, it's big for us. The pictures of Boulder are beautiful, but they really don't do it justice. Once you come here and see it, when you see Folsom Field and the Flatirons, people are blown away and they spread the word when they get home. That's a plus for us as well."
Another effect of the early visit period is an increased emphasis on solid evaluation by coaching staffs — something CU's coaches believe they do very well. It means coaches have to be confident in their evaluation before potential future Buffs have played their senior seasons of high school.
"What you have to do as coaches is you have to know your position and you have to know who you really want before their senior year," Chiaverini said. "You have to know that if a young man is ready to commit, we're going to take that commitment. It's important for assistant coaches to do a good job evaluating their rooms, and also know when they go on the road they're doing a good job watching their players practice."
http://cubuffs.com/news/2018/5/2/fo...p-to-early-official-visits.aspx?path=football
BOULDER — Colorado football coaches are delivering a strong thumbs-up on the early official visit period for high school recruits.
It didn't take long. With the first official weekend just completed, CU's coaches are enthusiastically offering their endorsement of the addition to the recruiting calendar, which for the first time offers the chance for high school juniors to make an official visit to a school.
"It was big for us," said Darrin Chiaverini, CU's co-offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. "You have to make sure you are getting these players on campus officially. The fact that we are able to have some of the best players in the country come and see Boulder when the weather is really nice, the sun's shining, they can see the campus, the rec center, the pool, the mountains — that's incredibly valuable."
Buffs head coach Mike MacIntyre, long a proponent of earlier visits (and an even earlier signing date than the current early December period), said the spring official visits give coaches more time to spend with recruits — and recruits more time to get to know the coaches, campus and the program.
"Official visit weekends during the season are hard," MacIntyre said. "They're not as good a visit. You don't have as much time. They fly in on Saturday mornings or get in late on Friday nights. You miss all the day Friday that you usually have. Saturdays you are preparing for a game and Sunday they're there and they have to fly back home."
Now, Chiaverini said, recruits and their families have a much better opportunity to become familiar with coaches and the campus because the atmosphere is much more relaxed.
"There's not the pressure of us playing a game, so we can spend more time with them," Chiaverini said. "For coaches, when it's an official weekend but you have a game to play, you are so consumed with the game that sometimes you are a little distracted. When you can do official visits in the springtime and dedicate all your time and energy to those kids, it's big for coaches and big for the players. They get to see what you and the program are really all about."
The first spring weekend was by all accounts a successful one for the Buffs, as they received some strong reviews from weekend visitors via today's preferred communication platform: social media.
It is, Chiaverini admitted, a far different world than the one he encountered as a college recruit more than two decade ago.
"When I was being recruited, there weren't cell phones, there wasn't a way to get the word out almost instantaneously," Chiaverini said. "Now when you have top prospects on campus and they're Tweeting about how great this place is, how great the facilities are, how great the mountains and Folsom are — those guys are being followed by a lot of other great players. They're saying, 'Wow, I want to go see that.'"
The result, Chiaverini said, is immediate and far-reaching exposure.
"I had players yesterday who are top high school prospects who are hitting me up saying, 'Coach, I want to come see Boulder now,'" he said. "So we know it's having a positive effect."
There are other benefits to the spring official visit period as well. It allows CU to bring in players from large population area out of state that otherwise might have found it difficult — or impossible — to squeeze in visits during their senior football seasons next fall.
"We've done a really good job recruiting in-state the last couple of years," Chiaverini said. "That's obviously always going to be a priority for us, and if you look at our list, we've signed the top kids in the state consistently. But it's also important to get those kids form California, those kids from Texas and other areas to come see us when they can spend some time here and see what they haven't seen before."
That, Chiaverini said, helps get the word out earlier.
"Where we are located, for us to get those players on campus early is a benefit for us, especially when you get a big-time kid that commits," Chiaverini said. "When he tells his teammates and friends that he had a great trip to Boulder, that it's an unbelievable place, you have to go see it — once that gets out there, it's big for us. The pictures of Boulder are beautiful, but they really don't do it justice. Once you come here and see it, when you see Folsom Field and the Flatirons, people are blown away and they spread the word when they get home. That's a plus for us as well."
Another effect of the early visit period is an increased emphasis on solid evaluation by coaching staffs — something CU's coaches believe they do very well. It means coaches have to be confident in their evaluation before potential future Buffs have played their senior seasons of high school.
"What you have to do as coaches is you have to know your position and you have to know who you really want before their senior year," Chiaverini said. "You have to know that if a young man is ready to commit, we're going to take that commitment. It's important for assistant coaches to do a good job evaluating their rooms, and also know when they go on the road they're doing a good job watching their players practice."
